Art on the Avenue has to be one of my all-time, absolute, favorite things to do in Alexandria…read more Unfortunately it only happens once a year, so I spend the other 364 days ripping loops off my paper chain. For one day every October, Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray shuts completely down to vehicle traffic and hundreds upon hundreds of artisans and artists descend with their white, pop-up tents. They come from as nearby as Alexandria to as far away as the Northeast and the Carolinas. They come bearing oil paintings, hand-crafted jewelry, hand-sewn clothing, pottery and vases and plates, lathe-turned bowls and objets d'art, garden ornaments, Christmas ornaments, baby clothes, decorative arts, handmade stationery....I could go on, and on, and on. And you could spend hours, and hours, and hours wandering up and down Mount Vernon eying the amazing wares on display. You can buy anything from a $5 birthday card to a $5,000 watercolor of Chincoteague. Every year I come, I drop way too much money -- but my home is now hung and decorated with so many beautiful, unique items that my guests ooh and ahh over...Where'd you find that beautiful pottery soap dispenser in the guest bath? Art on the Avenue. I'd love a photo triptych of the Lincoln Memorial like the one in your den, where'd you get it? Art on the Avenue. Where'd you score that hand-stitched quilt on your bed? Art on the Avenue. I'd say half my jewelry has been collected at Art on the Avenue over the years, and people are always commenting on the unique pieces I wear. Really, there's nothing AOTA CAN'T do! Adding to the sheer delight and enjoyment are the food vendors. Yes, when you have worked up a major appetite shopping -- or window shopping -- you can stop and grab a bite from the Los Tios, or Evening Star, or Bombay Curry booths. Or you can try BBQ. Or Chinese. Or Australian meat pies. Or frozen banana on a stick. You name it, AOTA most likely serves it. Did I mention the live entertainment, from singers, to the TC Williams Orchestra, to magicians? Yeah, there's that, too. AOTA is one of THE best ways I can think of to pass a weekend day. When the weather is nice, this place is a MOB SCENE of people, but well worth braving the crowd. When the weather isn't so nice this place is still a mob scene, but a bit less so. Hard to know what to wish for: the beautiful weather that makes AOTA that much more enjoyable to stroll, or the thinner crowd that makes AOTA that much more enjoyable to stroll...

First time visiting this festival with my mom yesterday. If you love arts, food and live music this…read morefestival is for YOU! 300 vendors of all different art media I enjoyed the art prints and paper stationary booths since I love sending mail. Ate delicious Indian food from a booth Bombay curry company! Spicy and yummy. Also liked how there were activities for kids and big kids a like ( button making station & screen printing demo).

We visited Vine on the Waterfront this weekend and enjoyed the festival. Lots of great local…read morewineries pouring some delicious wines. I was a big fan of Rogers Ford and Arterra. We arrived at noon when the lines were pretty short, but the lines grew quite lengthy as the day wore on. We did buy the Groupon for the food tickets. I'm not sure it was the best move as several food vendors ran out of food by 4 pm. Other than that we had a great time. Looking forward to next year's event!

I would actually give this event 1.5 stars. I paid $35 for my husband and I each for literally a…read moretable spoon of wine. We were there for almost 2.5 hours and only were able to hit up 3 tents. Ridiculous. The idea and set up are fabulous. But the lines are ridiculously long and for a little tasting. For as many wine and beer tastings as I've done my share of, I've never actually got a TASTING! It was almost a nice pour to enjoy while walking around. I paid $35 for crappy tastings then I have to pay $8 for a glass, pass! If you do go, get a bottle of wine and just chill and eat and listen to music, you could tell who the newbies were (like us) vs. veterans who didn't want to waste their time in like! Would not recommend and definitely will not be going back!

Peruvian festival is a festival of happy and friendly Peruvians and friends of Peru that just…read morecelebrated its 30th anniversary. The parking was good, no entrance fee, a lot of free stuff (ice creams, water, bags, jello's, etc...), plenty of Peruvian food choices. Entertainment was rich and fun as you can tell by the pictures - they even had the horses do the tricks... I had food that I had never tried before: Anticuchos - marinated and grilled calf hearts, was delicious meal, with the taste and texture close to a calf liver. Picarones - Peruvian doughnuts were soft and sweet. I was expecting they will be soggy but they were perfect, melting in mouth. This festival is very colorful, and had all the colors under the sun, not just red and whites (their flag). The festival is family friendly and even had a NPS stand where kids can learn and touch objects. Only problem with that is the lack of alcohol (I would have loved a Peruvian beer) but that is a small price to pay for an excellent Peruvian experience.

Great event for Local DC & Alexandria, VA residents to enjoy the Armenian culture! The Festival has…read moremany vendors, including Armenian Food, Entertainment, and artifacts on display!

Plenty of art but beware steep prices! Only 2 port o potties for the whole festival. No music or…read morefood vendors- must eat elsewhere.

We're having fun in the sun at the Annual Alexandria Old Town Art Festival. This is our second…read moreyear, and we had a great time. Highly recommend!

I think the other posters have covered the major drawbacks of this festival, namely the lack of…read moretents/shade and the horrendously overpriced food. To call this event a half-assed attempt at putting on a "food and wine festival" would be a compliment. Let's see...where do I start? Well, the wine tent was overcrowded and disgusting. There were maybe a dozen wine vendors and actually getting a tasting was a chore. Not only were there huge crowds around each table, but some of the wine vendors were so rude that they caused half the trouble. One winery had a strict policy of only pouring wine if you were standing along one side of their front table (keep in mind there are tables on both sides with plenty of room to stand along, which all the other vendors made full use of). If you were let's say 6-inches to the left of their imaginary foul line, then you were not allowed to taste their wine. Period!! The woman working at this table was very rude, and appeared to take great pleasure in making up and imposing nonsensical rules like this just to frustrate customers. On the other hand their were a few vendors who actually had people who cared about good wine and wanted to talk about it. To my surprise I was even given some great descriptions and tasting notes on some of the wines. For these vendors who have gone far above and beyond, I rewarded them by purchasing a full glass of wine from them. They were so flattered by this gesture (heck the glasses of wine were often only $5.00) that they gave me some ridiculously generous pours. The wine was practically overflowing from my glass as other patrons looked on with envy. In fact, one guy waiting patiently in line for a tiny tasting told me that he was seriously rethinking his strategy as the economic cost of dealing with the almost skin-on-skin crowds standing in line was not worth the time or hassle versus paying $5.00 for a glass and actually enjoying your day.

Ok. It's there first year, with LOTS of room for improvement. 90 degrees... Sunny day, maybe a…read moreperfect day, but they need shade tents next time. The first two student bands tried their best, but Alass they needy practice or new lead singers. At 1 pm a good local band started. Better... Food lines quickly became extremely long, and initially folks could not serve until the health department said it was ok. ((( reminder next year - get that done by 11 am then open at Noon. Wineries. Toooo long of lines.... And move it away from directly in front of the stage and main speakers. Deafening.

Lots of missed opportunity. The water lantern festival could have been top notch with just a little…read moremore planning and minimal additional outlay. Promised food trucks did not show up--why? Shade was lacking--a couple of respite tents with fans or even a water mister would have been nice. Entertainment was also sparse, with only one very young singer/songwriter. There would have been time for two or three different acts. They could also have had other diversions like facepainting, group yoga, a photo booth, etc. And when it was time to launch the lanterns, there was no easy way to get them out far enough into the water to float away, at least not without getting wet and dirty. The wakes from water taxis and tourist boats also made launching difficult. The event should have had some temporary floats or other temporary structures to make it easier for all the young women in their white pants and white skirts to get their lanterns out into the water. Or even some help for people with physical disabilities to participate. On the upside, the location was terrific and the general atmosphere was great. I enjoyed being there with my friends and making my lantern. The craft vendors were good. Staff were friendly, helpful, and good overall. The lantern kits were good. Parking, signage, and access were all good. The portajohns and handwashing facilities were decent and well-kept. But I left with the key feeling that the overall event should have been and easily could have been far better.

I was so excited to attend this event, I brought my mom with me as it was on her bucket list as…read morewell. Even though it was a beautiful event, there were a couple of things that really impact our overall experience. 1. Some of the staff was SUPER RUDE and not really helpful when checking in, there were too many lines and not enough signage directing people where to go based on the ticket purchased. 2. With the book bag giveaway is there was no maps/ wayfinding to help guide people to food trucks and tents allocated to shops and specific food. 3. The pathway to seating on the hill was not accessible for everyone, and the path that was available was NOT blocked off for people to properly walk through. Even the area where we were to go to place the lanterns in the water was in some areas UNSAFE (rocks,boulders). 4. I know this doesn't fall on the event planners themselves but one specific food truck took over an hour for them to get us three items were ordered and still got our order wrong! Overall, I just wish it was better communication on placement maps, way finding signage, and staffing

VIP was not worth it, ya they had food tastings but was limited, and done by 2pm, the food card…read moregiven was only good for $15 at any vendor taking them and all plates started at $30. Good experience with the vendors. Except certain "individuals" were catered to more than others. Maybe a good time with general admission but definitely VIP was NOT worth it.

Overpriced, long hot lines, minimal samples, no parking. People throwing up everywhere was the…read morehighlight.

Because I enjoyed the Chesapeake Crab and Beer Fest in Baltimore so much, when I saw the Groupon…read morefor the beer package for the one in National Harbor, I didn't hesitate to buy it. I will say that I got a good value paying $17 vs. $35 because I would have been upset paying $35. First of all, the location was hard to find. There was no signage to find the area from Waterfront St near the water. This location is much smaller so getting around the lines and vendor tents were harder. The space was limited and if your ticket didnt guarantee seating, you were pretty much out of luck. They also had much less drink vendors here. About 5 or 6 vendors were only open to premium ticket holders. So I buy beer package ticket and can't even access all the beer vendors??? That's BS. They had less liquor and wine vendors than the one in Baltimore and the beer vendors didn't know how to properly pour beer. Every time they filled our cups, it would be half full with foam. Warm foamy beer is gross. Also, the food trucks were limited as well. We didn't buy crabs this time because the price without an AYCE package was ridiculous. I gave 2 stars because I like that the sample cups were bigger this time and vendors that were good but they needed better people to pour beers. I don't mean to compare locations but if they are the same price tickets, the experience should be just as great. National Harbor is a wonderful area but I didn't enjoy this fest like the one in Baltimore.

We bought a friend here for the start of his bachelor party weekend. We did the VIP tickets so we…read moregot a tent to sit under with tables. We had unlimited beer and crabs. Nice. There were lots of beers, ciders, and even a few harder alcohols to try. There were some other vendors there for clothing and services also. Once we were in the area where the festival was, the staff was helpful about where to pick up tickets etc. Given that this is a festival vs a formal event I think it went well. Festivals by nature are not as choreographed as a sit down get together. Yes it can be crowded but that is the nature of the beast. I used what had to be the cleanest port o potty I have ever used. Impressive given that we went for the second session of the festival. I would have given it five stars except that actually finding the way to where the festival was from the parking areas was confusing. Some people thought it was taking place in the convention center etc. A few more signs stating that the festival was at the waterfront and pointing in the direction you needed to go would have helped especially since there were multiple events going on this weekend.

A special thanks to, Groupon, without whom I never would have known about this event (not to…read moremention purchased a heavily discounted admission and show ticket!) Even without Groupon, a general admission ticket would cost you only around $20-$25 with which you would have access to 300+ vendors (so really, in the future, don't bother eating before you come here because there are samples GALORE!) From a very, very far distance even listen in or sneak a peek at one of the celebrity chef shows. Speaking of which, the celebrity chefs this year included: Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, and Paula Deen. I was told last year, they had Giada De Laurentis. Not gonna lie, I was pretty stoked to see Rachael Ray live because of the type of energy she portrays in her shows. Maybe it was a case of "Lazy Sunday" or perhaps she was drained from all her demonstrations but the peppy Rachael I was looking forward to wasn't entirely there. Still as sweet as ever though! As you can imagine, there was plenty of food here - to sample and purchase, with 95% of the vendors being local. Lots of condiment vendors here (BBQ, Mustard, Hot Sauces, etc.) There were tons of opportunities to enter into give aways and even a section dedicated to kids. Oh yeah and a "Beers, Wines, and Spirits" sectioned off in the back. Though the food was plenty, I was hoping for vendors who would be selling fun and unique cooking gadgets. Not so much. There were also only two cupcake stands, little let down there. I think they could have done without the standing ass vibrating and sunglasses stands - didn't really get the relevance behind why they were there. This was fun and I did end up walking out with a delicious hunk of...cheese :) I am a *maybe* for returning in the future but think they can definitely step it up a notch with some really unique and diverse foods and gadgets.

Anyone with even a passing interest in food would likely enjoy this event. The Washington Cooking…read moreand Entertainment Show combines over 200 vendors of specialty foods, condiments, and food-related items, a wine, beer and food tasting, and celebrity food chefs under one rooftop. Just be prepared to give your wallet a workout. I spent over thirty dollars on flavored mustards alone at this event. While I loved the amount of vendors, there was a space to spare in the convention center. As such, it was quite inexcusable to bunch all of the vendors together as it made movement beyond difficult at times. Favorite items? A black truffle mustard, jalapeno popcorn, and an incredible BBQ sauce from an Alexandria manufacturer that will be opening a BBQ restaurant in Del Ray soon. Oh yeah, and then there was an alarming fitness machine that basically looked like individuals riding it were trying out for hardcore porn. I'm definitely placing this item on my calendar for next year. I'd strongly suggest it for any person in DC who loves food.